


Dawn Breaks

by Silvermagess



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-20
Updated: 2009-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-04 18:50:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvermagess/pseuds/Silvermagess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years later, Chie and Naoto force Souji to talk about a rough day on the job.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dawn Breaks

**Author's Note:**

> I've never really written a future fic before so I ended up going with something that was a little more slice of life for this one. I've never really thought of Souji as going into law enforcement, let alone as a psychiatrist, but the idea seemed too perfect to not make an attempt.

The smooth surface of the bar wasn't the most captivating sight in the world, but Detective Shirogane Naoto found herself staring into it regardless, even though it also held the reflection of her currently unresponsive companion. Souji was on his second whisky sour, despite it only being an hour since they'd entered the bar. Naoto's own drink sat untouched, probably more water than scotch on the rocks by now.

"Chie-sempai is awfully late," Naoto wondered out loud, hoping to get a response out of Souji. It didn't exactly work as planned with Souji shrugging before he went back to his glass. Frowning, Naoto opened her cellphone, hoping that Chie had actually remembered to charge it for a change. Just as she had typed in the third digit, cold hands slapped onto her shoulders causing Naoto to drop her phone and give a loud cry. The entire bar looked at her for a minute, Souji among them.

Quickly swiveling in her seat, Naoto's eyes widened at Chie, who had her hands raised, eyes wide. "G-good to see you too, Naoto." People were now either shrugging or laughing and going back to their conversations, but Naoto could feel herself begin to burn from humiliation. At least Souji hadn't turned back and was in fact wearing one of those wry smiles that were so rare these days.

"Chie-sempai," Naoto muttered under her breath, wishing she didn't sound so petulant. "Where were you?"

Sliding in next to Naoto, Chie shouted an order the bartender before turning to the both of them. "I told you not to call me sempai anymore. You've outranked me for years now" Chie gently elbowed her, before shooting a glance at Souji who waved. "Souji, you could at least say hello," Chie glared, or rather tried. Even in her uniform, Chie had never been the most intimidating person and that held true, even now.

"Yeah, but after the greeting you gave Naoto, anything I said would be lukewarm in comparison," he said, glass in hand, smile still there. Naoto could feel a weight that had settled on her shoulders lessen a little and found herself thankful for Chie's natural brightness. "But really, what took you so long? Normally, you're three sheets to the wind when we arrive."

Tapping a finger to her mouth, Chie sighed. "Well, there's this new recruit and you know how it is…" She flushed a little, indicating that it was one of _those_ recruits, the kind that Naoto herself had far too much experience with.

"The beautiful Lt. Satonaka suffers from yet another misadventure," Souji chuckled, causing Chie to flame a little red. "Want to talk about it?"

"Actually, we're supposed to talk about your problems to-" Chie cut herself off as Souji's smile immediately faded back into stone and he turned back to his drink. Naoto mentally cursed to herself and regarded Souji cautiously, trying to figure out how to proceed. Chie merely chewed on her lip, looking sheepish.

"Sempai, we just-"

"I told you, it's nothing," he murmured, voice holding what may or may not have been a tinge of anger. After all these years, Naoto still couldn't entirely read Souji, even though her own observation skills had grown immensely. And she called herself a detective…

"Sempai, I know this isn't the time to do so," Naoto kept her voice as neutral as possible, "but we want you to talk to us for a change, instead of the other way. Relate your problems to us." Souji tightened his hand around his glass, finely showing some emotion, however faint.

It wasn't lost on Chie either, who chose to push the attack or what passed for one. "Souji, if you want, we can go somewhere private. I mean, if you don't want to talk around all these people."

"You two are really something, you know that?" Souji sighed as he finally turned towards them, a pained smile on his face. It wasn't often that Naoto saw him so irritated. "You want to hear my secrets for a change? What I deal with at the prison?"

"Yes, Sempai," Naoto said grimly. Actually, there was one case she wanted to hear about in particular. And Souji knew it. "Specifically, Nanjo Ko-"

The hard clink of Souji's glass against the counter top caused both of the women to start, Chie with a bit of a yelp. He then closed his eyes and sighed, taking a deep breath. He was silent for a long time, leaving his companions in a worried silence. Chie leaned over Naoto towards Souji, about to touch him when he spoke, causing her to jump again.

"You already know what happened on the news," he said as he stared straight ahead, eyes focusing on somewhere far away. "What more do you need?" His tone was tired, as it had often been these last few months. Naoto wasn't sure how to proceed at this point; she was so used to Souji being the strong one, the one who prodded open the feelings of those around him. It had been that way as teens in Inaba and it had continued as they both pursued their own respective careers in law enforcement.

While just as unsure, Chie was willing to press ahead, as always. "Souji, please. Even if there's nothing we can do…" she swallowed, "it's sad, when you won't trust us to listen. Besides, Dojima-san is worried about you too."

"So that's why you came up from Inaba, huh?" Souji laughed a little, giving them an exasperated smile. "Very well then, Nanjo-san was…" Souji closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. "He was a lot like us, back then."

"Like us?" Naoto asked.

There was a hint of fondness in Souji's voice as he spoke, "Trying to discover his true self, fighting against his own shadow, fragile yet strong. He shouldn't have been given such a harsh sentence."

Naoto sighed, nodding. Nanjo Kotaro had become famous a few years back when he beat two fellow students to death, likely the result of severe bullying. The law and the media had been unsympathetic to the plight of this underachiever, who had ended the lives of two bright honor students who were a few exams away from entering Tokyo University. And then he'd made headlines yet again, when he'd taken his psychiatrist, their own Seta Souji, hostage at knife point, holding him for twenty four hours. Nanjo eventually released Souji and then killed himself.

"He was a lot like Kanji was: proud and headstrong, just wanting to belong, unable to do anything but lash out. He got a little better in prison. At least, I thought he had. I was such a fool," Souji laughed, as he took a drink, grimacing. "I'm lucky he only killed himself."

Naoto frowned to herself before she spoke, knowing that her words sounded clichéd. "Sempai, you had no way of knowing that he'd do such a thing."

"It was my job to know and to stop him. Not to have a knife pointed at my throat for twenty four hours. There wasn't supposed to be another-" Souji stopped himself abruptly, sighing to himself as he closed his eyes. He sat like that for a long time and if not for Chie, the silence may never have stopped.

"Another Namatame…" Chie said as she looked Souji dead on, causing him to flinch a little. Naoto's own eyes widened a bit. Even years later, she could still remember Namatame holding Nanako hostage in his arms. How much more vivid it must have been for the man sitting next to her. It wasn't lost on Chie either, though her tone was gentle. "Souji, it's not the same thing."

As if coming out of a dream, Souji shook his head. "Yes it is. I thought I knew the answers and because of that ignorance, I nearly had my throat slit open. Instead, Nanjo gouged out his own heart," Souji grimaced, as if at some twisted joke.

"Sempai…" Naoto sighed as she rubbed her neck, "I know how you feel. I've…" All the lives she failed to save came flashing to Naoto's mind and she closed her eyes, much as Souji had done, steeling herself against the wave. A child kidnapped by her father only to be stuffed in car trunk, a young woman strangled to death by a serial killer, a politician compelled to take his life because of blackmail and too many others. "But, regardless, the dawn still breaks." It was trite, yet it was something that Naoto found that she did believe in and it was all because of this man sitting before her.

Souji's looked surprised and was about to deliver a clever retort when Chie decided to speak. "I haven't experienced the stuff you guys have," Chie said as she bit her lip, "I mean, you know, having anyone die on my watch. Though, I came close this one time. There was this car chase and well, the guy ended up on life support for a few months…" Naoto and Souji both blinked at her in surprise. "What? I… mean, I know I never told you guys the story before, but I wasn't trying to hide anything from anyone…" Chie cringed, awkward. All three of them were silent, strangely embarrassed by this revelation that even Chie still occasionally had secrets after all of these years. After a bit, Souji gave a small laugh.

Giving them another of those small, treasured smiles, Souji's voice was soft as he spoke. "If you two are telling me that I'll move on, trust me, I know. What do you think I've been studying?" He shrugged for a moment, as if releasing some tension from his shoulders. "So, my uncle put you up to this? Really? Him of all people?" There was some general surprise there, which wasn't unwarranted. Dojima, despite opening up over the years, was still a reserved man, much like his nephew.

"It wasn't just his idea. All of us had noticed, even Yousuke," Chie gave a little laugh at that, shaking her head before she continued on. "It was Dojima-san who finally convinced us to just suck it up and get you to talk. Him and Nanako-chan. They worry about you, you know?" There was a long pause on Souji's end before he finally spoke.

"So, I really was that pathetic, huh?"

"That's not what we-" Chie paused as Souji began to laugh yet again, this time free and open. "Souji?"

Slowing down, Souji reclined back in his chair, now loose and lazy "I'm glad. And at the same time not. This isn't something I wanted to share with anyone. Not like with Adachi or Izanami," Souji finished off the glass of whiskey and pushed it aside. "I wanted this to be one burden I didn't have to share with all of you."

In some ways, Naoto could understand all too well. However horrifying the TV world had been, at least they had power there. They could blast the enemy into oblivion with a ray of light, a gust of wind or kicks strong enough to send a man to the moon. In the real world they had no such powers and all the enemies wore human faces instead of masks. A giant pig man in a cop costume shooting at you was both more and less horrifying then dealing with the officer who had been raping prostitutes. Souji had to deal with the very minds of people, the place from which shadows themselves spawned. It was something she understood too well.

It was precisely this reason that she could now choose to joke about it. "Too bad, you're stuck with us," Naoto chuckled. "Even if you managed to hide it from the others, you can't hide from your co-workers."

"Yeah," Chie cut in, gently elbowing Naoto. "Even though I work in Inaba, you can't hide it from me either," Chie grinned, waving her glass back and forth, as if making a toast. "Dojima-san tells me everything about his favorite nephew."

"I hope you're just exaggerating, Chie," Souji ruffled his hair, slightly ducking his eyes. "But, next time you see him, tell him I'm okay, or I will be. And tell Nanako that I'll visit soon."

"Geez, tell them yourself," Chie huffed and then shrugged, slumping back down into her seat again. "Though, I suppose the mysterious act is a part of your charm, right Naoto?"

Giving Souji a wry smile, Naoto nodded. "Yes, very."

"You could give a guy ideas, flattering him like that," Souji grinned now, something that was rare for him and probably an effect of the alcohol that had begun it's work. "But thank you." Something in the air felt a little more settled now and Naoto could feel relief permeating her body. For her part, Chie was smiling broadly. It was a small success, meaningless in the grand scale of things, but they'd succeeded in getting Dr. Seta Souji to talk.

"So all's well that ends well!" Chie smiled as she rocked backwards in her stool, glass in hand even now. "Not that your problems are over or anything, but-"

"Chie, it's your turn now." Naoto said, cutting her off abruptly, causing Chie to pause with her chair tilting back at a dangerous angle that would have been worrisome with anyone else.

"My turn?"

Souji nodded, resting his chin on his hands. "About the rookie." The tone of his voice made it clear that Chie wasn't going to weasel her way out of this one.

"Really? But, after your story it seems… Well, alright, though it's sorta embarrassing," Chie brushed the back of her head as she began to tell the tale. Despite herself, Naoto suddenly felt like knocking back the rest of her drink, now content that she didn't need to have her wits about her. Either way, the dawn was going to break.


End file.
